


Little Brother

by Arikitteh



Category: NXT, Professional Wrestling, Ring of Honor, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Flashbacks, Jimmy Jacobs' last match, NXT San Jose, Other, Supercard of Honor 8
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-04-04
Packaged: 2018-05-31 05:17:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6457378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arikitteh/pseuds/Arikitteh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two words, two little words, yet they mean everything to the right people.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little Brother

**Author's Note:**

> Wrestlemania 31 'weekend', one chapter of a career ends while another begins.

_**March, 28 th, 2015 – Ring of Honor's 'Supercard of Honor IX' took place at The Sports House in Redwood City, California. It was the final time Jimmy Jacobs was seen in a Ring of Honor ring....** _

Butterflies in the stomach were familiar to Jimmy. Anytime he was prepping to head to the ring and put on a performance, he always got them. Today, it was different. Today he felt like he'd swallowed down an extra large drink of hot lead that was slowly cooling to a metaphorical cannonball in his guts. He'd kept word of tonight being the last time he'd be lacing up the boots quiet. Left it to a very small group of telling only those who absolutely _needed_ to know.

Of course there had been plenty of fodder for the rumor mill, with him exiting various smaller promotions he'd been part of. Putting over younger guys and shedding championships, and most telling was he wasn't actively looking for any new bookings. Hadn't accepted anything new after tonight's RoH show. This was strange because he had quite a long streak of being booked every weekend and even a few major holidays. He'd even work during the week if a booker was willing to meet his asking price, and all things considered he'd always been one of the more reasonable of top tier indy talent as far as his asking price went.

He'd seen just about every over the top rumor, and some that could be considered fairly reasonable as well. He was bemused by some of them, yet refused to confirm or deny anything. Keeping silent on the subject, he'd announce the truth (not Truth Martini truth) himself when the time was right. For now he sat in a rather comfortable corner of the Women of Honor's locker room, putting the final touches on his makeup and listening to Maria Kanellis chat with Lacey (yes, _that_ Lacey) about how things had changed in RoH over the years.

“With all the changes, I'm glad some things have stayed the same. Like Jimmy sharing a locker room with us.” Lacey said with a soft chuckle. “It wouldn't be a RoH locker room without him fixing his makeup next to me.”

Yes, Jacobs had always shared a locker room with the ladies in RoH. They always had better mirrors with better lighting for fixing hair and makeup up properly in their locker rooms. Plus he was the one guy on the roster that all the women felt comfortable around, he was just another one of the girls chatting away while putting on eyeliner and mascara. And the fact that he'd put some of the ruder 'boys' in their proper places over the years whenever he saw one of them being anything less than respectful to the ladies didn't hurt either.

“I know. I'm gonna miss having you around, Jimmy! You're so good at helping me pick the right eyeshadow to go with my gear each night.” Maria said with a little pout.

“Text me pictures of any new gear you make so I can suggest eyeshadow colors.” Jimmy said while he turned to smile at Maria. “So, what do you think of this look for my swan song?”

Lacey and Maria gave his makeup the critical once over, before reaching for their own kits to make a few small tweaks so Jimmy would look perfect. Makeup done, gear perfect, and Jacobs had started to slide into the right mindset for later. He'd dropped down on one of the benches, notebook in hand as he quickly scribbled out different lines. Quietly testing each one out, trying different inflections and emphasis before he either struck it out or circled it in his notebook.

This was a process that was all too familiar to Lacey. She grabbed a couple chilled bottles of water from the mini-fridge before she headed over to take a seat next to Jimmy. He looked at her, and it felt just like their old Age of the Fall days all over again. There was that same light in his eyes, the same sly little smirk playing around the corners of her lips. They were finally getting the chance today to tie up some of the unresolved storyline from those days. Finally getting the shot to fix the unsatisfactory ending, and leave things the right way. The way they should have been.

As Jimmy and Lacey worked on things, Maria let them be. She had to slide into her own character for today, the pretty and sneaky heel manager, for her fiancée and his tag partner who were challenging for the Tag Team Championships. Jimmy and Lacey were too far gone in their own little world when the knock came, so Maria went to see who was at the door.

“Hey, Steve. What's up?” She asked Steve Corino, who stood on the other side of the door.

“I was wondering if I could have a quick word with Jimmy, if that's ok with you ladies.” Corino said, Maria glanced over her shoulder before she replied.

“Come on in, but good luck pulling Jimmy and Lacey out of their evil plans.” She said with a soft laugh as she stepped back to let Corino in.

Steve chuckled as he made his way over to where Jimmy and Lacey sat. Clearing his throat a few times, Steve eventually got their attention. “I won't take much of your planning time. Just wanted to say thanks for what you're doing for my son, Jimmy. Gonna miss having you around. Who am I gonna be all biased on commentary about without you here?”

Jacobs rolled to his feet and promptly hugged Corino. Steve knew him well enough to have been expecting the hug, returning it enthusiastically. “Colby more than deserves this, Steve. I know Beej is gonna do right by him, just like he did right by me. Gonna miss you too.” Jimmy remained in the hug for a few moments more before he started to pull away. “Good thing I'm wearing waterproof mascara and eyeliner. Do you know how hard it is to get this stuff looking perfect?”

Jacobs said with one of his adorable grins as he reached into his bag for a travel pack of tissues. Pulling one from the pack to dab gently at the tears that had started to fall. They were a mix of happiness and sorrow, truly bittersweet. “If you see Colby and Beej around, can you ask them to come here? Got a couple things I wanna run by them before belltime.”

Steve nodded, “Sure thing, Jimmy. If you see any of the old crew around 'up north', give them my best.” Corino called out as he left, Jacobs just nodded, already going back to planning things for his final match in RoH.

* * *

It had gone down better than expected, he and Whitmer had teased a few things from their classic feud during the match. Notably the top turnbuckle spot that had damn near killed Jacobs at one time. Then when the match was over, BJ said those two words that held so much meaning for both of them, _“Little Brother”_. It was a signal to Colby Corino who attacked from behind, which brought Lacey running out from the crowd to make the save. And the longtime fans got to see the ultimate underdog ride off into the sunset with the girl of his dreams at his side.

It took a while to wade through the guys in the back, seemed like the entire roster was wanting to say their farewells, but eventually Jacobs was able to get cleaned up and changed out of his gear. Pulling on his leather blazer, he did his best to look professional before leaving the RoH show early. One chapter of his life was over, while the next.... Or was it NXT one was just beginning?

* * *

Walking into the backstage area of the NXT live event in San Jose that night felt really good. Almost as good as being grabbed in a hug by a very happy Kevin Steen.... Well, Kevin Owens now, but either way, they knew each other well having traveled the long roads together in Ring of Honor. Looking around Jacobs spotted plenty of familiar faces, a couple, such as Sami Zayn (the wrestler formerly known as the masked El Generico), and Cesaro (formerly Claudio Castagnoli), made their way over to greet him.

Didn't take long for his old friends to insist on taking him around to see everything. And as if it was fate, they ran into the 'American Dream' Dusty Rhodes. Dream had a huge smile on his face as he shook Jimmy's hand. “Finally the creative genius Jimmy Jacobs is here, exactly where we need him the most.”

“That's where you're wrong, Dream. I'm not where you need me to be. I'm where I need to be.” That simple statement got an even bigger smile from Dusty.

“Sounds like you're ready to jump into your new job right now, Jimmy. If that's so, I can take you to meet some of the team you'll be working with.”

“No time like the present.” Jacobs replied as he stepped away from his friends to follow Dusty.

“I like your spirit. And you already know quite a few of our talent. I can't wait to see what you'll start coming up with to shake things up around here.” Rhodes was leading the way towards the production area backstage when they both spotted a familiar tall guy with just past shoulder length black hair. The bleached blonde streak at one temple was new to Jacobs, yet he'd know the profile anywhere.

“Whatever happens, just know that I've done many things over the years to deserve a punch or three.” Jacobs whispered to Dusty, before stepping away from the legend a few paces and clearing his throat. “Fancy running into you here, _Little Brother_.”

The tall man's head snapped up instantly from where he'd been busy texting someone. That voice, he'd know it anywhere. Even if they both lived to be well over a hundred and going senile and half deaf in their old age, he'd know that voice. Storm clouds formed in his expression as he glared daggers at the shorter man. “That's real funny coming from you, Jimmy. Saved me a text just now. Because I'm wondering why I had to find out about your new job from an announcement on your twitter? Some _brother_ you are.”

“Short answer, because I couldn't tell anyone, bro. This was something that had to be kept strictly 'need to know' until I finished my time with Ring of Honor.” Jacobs said, as both men kept a short distance between each other.

“Ok, so why didn't you call me after your match tonight? Text me? Something?” It was a fair question from current Money In The Bank holder, Seth Rollins (formerly Tyler Black).

“I figured I'd probably run into you here, tonight. And I wanted to let you know in person, but with all the bullshit speculation I needed to do some quick damage control on twitter now that I can, before things got way outta hand.” Jacobs had pulled out the wide puppy-eyes without even realizing it. “Forgive me, _Little Bro_?”

Rollins sighed, he knew well the old adage in the business. 'If you wanted to ruin a secret, all you had to do was tell a wrestler.' While he wouldn't have said anything directly to anyone from the press, he knew he probably would have mentioned it to all their old friends excitedly backstage. Where _anyone_ passing by could have overheard. Plus there was no way he could stay mad with one of his best friends, not when Jimmy pulled out the big puppy eyes.

“Still, you should have called or something. I was there you know, this afternoon, watching your last match with Whitmer. Even after all these years, you're still taking me to school.”

Jacobs blinked, Seth had been _there_? He hadn't said a word about being there. At least, not to him. If Jimmy would have known, he could have sent one of the ring crew to find Rollins and drag him backstage. They could have rode to the NXT show together, and most importantly Jacobs could have told him about the new job before announcing it via twitter!

“You should have said something about being there! I would have had you hauled backstage and could have told you everything before putting it out on twitter!” Jimmy quickly closed the distance between them with a few angry steps, before he slugged Seth right in the shoulder. “Now I don't even feel bad you found out about it on twitter. Some _Little Brother_ you are.”

“Ow! Ease up some, bro. I got a big show tomorrow.” Seth said, his anger already starting to clear from his expression.

“Hmmm, think I vaguely recall something going on tomorrow. And you say you're working tomorrow. Guess I'll need to take your word for it.” Jacobs teased, his anger fading as well.

“You can be such a little shit at times.” Seth chuckled as he pulled Jimmy in close for a hug. “I've missed having you around. It'll be like old times, only better.”

“Yeah, this time you get to drive while I sleep in the backseat.” Jacobs smirked.

“You always make me drive.”

“When you get more experience than me, then I'll drive.” Jacobs said with a snicker. “I gotta go with Dusty to meet some important creative people, who'll probably put me right to work. After the show's done, we will be hanging out.”

“I better start yelping for a late night sushi place. Go, get worked to death so I can make you eat fish later.”

“You still know the way right to my stomach. And do me a favor and keep it just you and me. I'll catch up with everybody else after Wrestlemania. I just need a little quiet tonight.” The emotional toll of everything was starting to take it's toll on Jimmy. Seth nodded, knowing that feeling all to well.

“Anything you want, bro. Been wanting some time to catch up with you anyways.”

“Thanks, _Little Brother_.” Such simple words, that held a wealth of meaning, to both of them.


End file.
